Fans To Raise Funds To Purchase Rights To Firefly

For years, fans have grieved over the loss of Firefly and have often (rightfully) complained of the show’s premature demise. Now it seems some fans are hoping to obtain the rights to the series, following a comment made by star Nathan Fillion.

Created by Joss Whedon, Firefly took place far into the future and followed a group of renegades aboard a ship called Serenity. The smartly written dialogue and excellent character stories are part of what made the show so great. Unfortunately, it only lasted a season and was then cancelled by Fox. Even the big-screen sequel Serenity wasn’t enough to fully satiate fans. While Firefly went underappreciated by the masses on the big and small screen, it still has some of the most devoted fans out there, as evidenced by this attempt to buy the rights to the series.

It started with a comment made by former Firefly star Nathan Fillion. He told EW, “If I got $300 million from the California Lottery, the first thing I would do is buy the rights to Firefly, make it on my own, and distribute it on the Internet.”

The comment inspired some (currently anonymous) fans to start a website campaigning to rally fans and raise the money to buy the rights to the series. HelpNathanBuyFirefly.com doesn’t appear to be collecting donations just yet, but the effort, which includes the website and the Facebook Fan Page has garnered the attention of plenty of Firefly fans. There have also been comments in response to Fillion’s Entertainment Weekly interview, from some of the talent from the original Firefly.

CNN has some of the responses posted, including Firefly writer Jose Molina, who Tweeted, “For what it's worth, I've told him I'd drop what I was doing and follow//Fillion says he'd play Mal again.” Writer Jane Espenson, who penned an episode for the series (and happens to be one of my favorite TV writers), chimed in via Twitter that she’d be there if needed, in reply to Molina’s tweet.

What does this mean for the fate of Firefly? It’s certainly too soon to get hopes up that the series might make a return in some form or another, but this story is certainly worth following. Maybe (likely) Nathan Fillion was only speaking hypothetically and expressing his love for the show, but who knows what could come of this?

HelpNathanBuyFirefly.com encourages fans to check back in in a few days when they’ll have their pledge system online.

As for people who think there are better causes for financial donations, the site addresses that point by stating that while there are causes to “decrease suck,” this is an attempt to “increase awesome.” If you’re a fan of Firefly, worthier causes or not, I’m sure you’d agree that more of the series would certainly be increased awesome.